Glee

"Watching Rise feels like watching its promising high school characters take to the stage and try with all their might to bare their souls and inspire the masses," says Caroline Framke. "It’s unabashedly earnest, sporadically moving, and, when it falters, incredibly frustrating." The biggest problem, she says is that Josh Radnor's "supposedly inspiration teacher" character is a "patronizing nightmare." She adds that he "is a one-stop shop of condescension and petulance, and the show doesn’t realize it until way too late in the season."

Murphy co-created Glee and American Horror Story with Brad Falchuk. Ian Brennan co-created Scream Queens and Glee with Falchuk and Murphy. Yet their fate, and the fate of other Murphy collaborators, is up in the air in the wake of the mega-producer's blockbuster $300 million Netflix deal. As The Hollywood Reporter notes, 20th Century Fox TV could fight Murphy to keep his top collaborators.

The prolific producer has signed a five-year deal worth as much as $300 million to move from 21st Century Fox to the streaming service in what The New York Times is calling one of the biggest deals ever for a TV producer. The deal will hurt Disney, which reached a deal to acquire Fox in December. Murphy has been one of the 21st Century Fox's most prolific producers with hits ranging from American Crime Story to Nip/Tuck to Glee and American Horror Story. Last month, Murphy said he felt uncomfortable with Disney's takeover of Fox despite reassurances from Disney CEO Bob Iger, pointing out “point-blank the stuff I do is not Disney." The Times reports Amazon also courted Murphy, whose Fox deal expires this summer. “The history of this moment is not lost on me,” Murphy said in a statement. “I am a gay kid from Indiana who moved to Hollywood in 1989 with $55 in savings in my pocket, so the fact that my dreams have crystallized and come true in such a major way is emotional and overwhelming to me.” ALSO: Murphy's current shows aren't going anywhere.

Lynch says the late actor "was a hard guy to get to know,” but recalled that he was happy being on the Paramount Studios lot filming Glee. “It’s been tough,” she tells Us Weekly. “He was a troubled, troubled guy, and he always was. This is a very sad end to it, but I know that he’s at peace now. He’s in the arms of a beneficent force.”

The Glee alum had agreed to pay his victims in his child pornography case $50,000 each as part of his plea agreement. However, the plea deal was to be enacted as part of his final sentencing, which won’t take place, as TMZ reports. His victims’ only recourse now is to sue his estate for damages.

As one Glee fan put it in reacting to this morning’s news, “Mark Salling did horrible things that he hadn’t yet face[d] the consequences for, but he also played a part in a show that meant the world to a lot of people,” wrote one Twitter user. “It’s okay to have mixed feelings, without defending him. But remember that suicide is never the answer.” Salling was awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to possessing child pornography, facing four to six years in prison. According to The Blast, Salling’s family reported him missing early this morning fearing he was suicidal. ALSO: Glee cast and crew react to Salling’s death -- Jane Lynch is "brokenhearted."

TMZ reports that the actor, famous for playing Noah “Puck” Puckerman on the Fox series, was found dead near a riverbed near where he lived in the Los Angeles suburb of Sunland. Salling was awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty last month to possessing 50,000 images of underage children, as part of a plea deal. TMZ reported three months ago that Salling attempted suicide in August and had to be rushed to the hospital. The suicide attempt occurred before Salling struck his plea deal in October. Salling is the second Glee star to die. Cory Monteith died of an accidental overdose of heroin and alcohol in July 2013 at age 31. UPDATE: Salling's attorney, Michael J. Proctor, confirms his death.